New Stanton man takes home shooting title

A young New Stanton man is now a national champion shooter.

Lucas Boord, a 2007 graduate of Hempfield Area High School, won the 2009 National Rimfire Sporter Championship at the Civilian Marksmanship Program's annual national matches at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio.

Boord, by virtue of his age, was also crowned the national junior champion.

In rimfire sporter competition, shooters fire from three positions — prone, sitting/kneeling and standing — once rapid fire, once slow fire at targets 25 and 50 yards away. They shoot the kind of .22-caliber rifles you might see on a local range or in the woods.

Boord used a Kimber Hunter rifle to ring up a score of 593 out of 600, with 34 bull's-eyes. That edged out a U.S. Army Reservist, Steven Slee of Dimondale, Mich., who used a Ruger 10/22 to shoot a 592 with 30 bull's-eyes.

The second-place junior shooter was Charles Opalewski of Vicksburg, Mich., who shot a 577 with 18 bull's-eyes.

Boord competed as a member of the junior rifle program at East Huntingdon Sportsmen's Club and shoots in high-power competitions at East Monongahela Sportsmen's Club.

Pleads guilty

A Washington County man has pleaded guilty to unlawfully transporting an illegally killed elk into Pennsylvania.

George Isenberg Jr., 52, of Venetia, pleaded guilty to shooting a 5X5 bull elk in Colorado without having a valid bull elk license. The Colorado Division of Wildlife and Pennsylvania Game Commission determined that Isenberg shot the bull and tagged it with his son's license at a time when his son was in school in Pennsylvania.

Isenberg was ordered to pay fines and court costs of $566.50 in Pennsylvania. Earlier, he pleaded guilty to Colorado violations and was fined more than $2,800.

He also will have his license revoked in both states for a period of years.

The case is noteworthy because of what it could represent.

Because Colorado is a member of the Wildlife Violator Compact, all of the other states that belong to the compact will prohibit Isenberg from buying their licenses, too.

Pennsylvania is not yet a member of the violator compact, but could become one under House Bill 1832, sponsored by state Rep. Marc Gergely, an Allegheny County Democrat. This bill is awaiting action in the House Game and Fisheries Committee.

Fine shooting

The "Smokin' Guns" shooters from California Hill Gun Club did pretty well at the recent Scholastic Clay Target Program's Pennsylvania championship in Hazelton.

Shooting in a day-long rain, the varsity team consisting of Tommy Adamson, Brett Gunsallus and Jon Difilippo won second place in a shoot-off.

California's intermediate squads shot well enough to win two second places and one third. Team members were Gavin Anderson, Ryan Holt, David Kriebel, Colton Dillon, Jacob Sckena, Devin Braddock, Paul Peters and Shane Roebuck. Matthew Peteritis and Kyle Grahek shot as extra competitors.

The team is coached by Phil Difilippo and his assistants, Tom Adamson, John Anderson and Randy Dillon.

Sales grow

A new National Sporting Goods Association report notes that hunting- and firearms-related equipment was the only sporting-goods equipment category to see double-digit sales growth in 2008.

Sales rose 16 percent, while overall sporting-goods equipment sales declined 1 percent compared to the previous year.

Hunting- and firearms-related equipment accounted for $4.6 billion in sales, which ranked second only to exercise equipment in 2008.

Article by Bob Frye,
Everybody Adventures, http://www.everybodyadventures.com

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